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condensed trip report, plus questions.
have returned from what i try to make an annual trip to the stratford festival. my usual stratford companion, C, couldn't join me this year, as she was in mexico for school (she's a phd student in art history, specializing in pre-colombian meso-american architecture) until today, and my classes begin tomorrow. however, my college roommate K, who hasn't been able to come along in previous years, came with me this time.
we both arrived in toronto on thursday. here's the rest of my report, recorded nightly.
Thurs
Flew to T.O. via Cincinnati -- utter clusterfuck -- met K, cab to hotel, ordered Chinese & much catching up. Also TV. Slept well, but fitfully; woke up twice. T.O. "Airport" Best Western: props for beds being really comfy, but minus several points for not having a shuttle to/from Pearson.
Fri
V. good continental breakfast, cab back to airport to pick up car, drove to Stratford, arrived way too early. Buzzed around a bit, checked in to guest house, discomfited landlady by being willing to share double bed, fortunately there's a pullout couch in the room. Glad that makes her happy.
Quiet in the Land [story of an Amish boy who leaves the community to join the army in WWI] -- excellent. Like Fiddler on the Roof, only no Jews. Lights went down for Act 2, music came up, said to K, "Hey, there was no harmony in the Act 1 music -- getting More Complex," and then a character mentioned this in an argument later. Go me! Cast uniformly ace -- leads utterly fantastic. (S. Russell & whoever played the deacon; M. Therriault continues to Do No Wrong.) K identified her mother-in-law in 2nd female lead, the girl's mother. Good line: "Those are things to want on the outside. A church is on the inside." Better line: "You don't get back lost sheep by yelling at the ones who stayed put." A play to look into keeping on the shelf.
The Birds [by Aristophanes] -- a total acid trip. Concept, cohesive; plot, insane. Apparently the rest of Aristophanes' plays are even crazier. Whatever. Costumes looked good. Singing & dancing v. good. Lost a lot of people during intermission -- not sure what they were expecting, but that wasn't it. B. Hopkins v. entertaining as E_____ (greek name) -- apparently Liverpool accent = comedy. Poss. equivalent of Jersey (Joisey) or Am. South, but then what would be equivalent of Geordie/Newcastle? Anyway, B.H. absent from curtain call -- appeared in Act 1, but only first couple minutes of Act 2, so presumably went home.
Tomorrow: we were able to get tickets to Antony & Cleopatra, huzzah, huzzah, and good ones, too -- and then No Exit in the evening. Even comfy shoes are nice to get rid of after hours and hours and hours. Also, hate nylons. Hate them. Eye makeup and contact lenses not so bad, but cooler air causing sinus issues. Must stop constructing sentences B. Jones style now.
Sat
V. nice continental breakfast w/ v. pleasant fellow guests. Requisite shopping in a.m. -- ran into C's mother in one store, which was surreal. Blood sugar sinking -- lunch at "Principals' Pantry", nice place by Festival Theatre.
Antony & Cleopatra -- fabulous. D. D'Aquila continues to Do No Wrong. K very impressed by B. Hopkins, who gave excellent performance w/ almost no lines. W. Best did v. nice job w/ speech about perfume on riverboat, etc.
Dinner @ Pazzo's, then bought ridiculous # of postcards.
No Exit -- FUCKING AWESOME. This was the show I was here to see, and it didn't disappoint. S. Ouimette DNW. C. Jullien v. good -- yay! C. Reid superb. Superb. Practically stole the show. (Impossible to completely steal shows from S. Ouimette, otherwise would likely have done so.)
Went to Down The Street after, as No Exit only one act & therefore out by 9:30. "Seated" in corner of bar on other side of passage, as usual. No complaints, as best spot for people-watching. Lady approached bar at one point w/ cane, & we offered her a spare stool that was behind us -- she said she was just paying up, and we heard voice and realized was C. Reid! Apologized for bothering her & told her how we'd loved her show; she said we'd been a good audience, which makes her job fun. We went back to our conversation, she finished paying her check, & thanked us again as she was leaving. V. charming.
Also saw S. Ouimette on his way out; tapped on window to get his attention. He turned back, which I wouldn't have done (unless there was possibility it was friend saying "don't forget your wallet"), and we gave thumbs-up and applause. He smiled and gave us thumbs-up as well. Fun! Spotted W. Best and others in bar as well, including (I think) M. Giroux (who isn't in anything we're seeing this year), B. Hopkins (didn't stop to praise on our way out as was in conversation w/ friend and we didn't want to be obnoxious), and extra-cute freed-slave boy from A&C. Yay for being the right sort of fangirls.
Tomorrow: Pericles.
Sun
Pericles -- excellent. First act sort of trippy, but second act v. good. J. Goad in aged-grieving-Pericles makeup & hair looked alarmingly like L. Neeson in Episode 1.
Landlady charged extra for pullout, which vaguely sucked after she was the one insisting we use it, but not her fault Festival didn't tell us the option was there.
Back to T.O., found hotel w/ no trouble, found grocery store w/ some effort, bought soda, ordered pizza, watched TV, talked about boys being dumb.
Mon
Up too early, to airport, left K at door, returned car, came inside & got checked in sooner than K. -- who missed flight b/c Northwest agents dumb and/or busy. Through customs, bought stamps, trip really done except getting home. May get bumped -- here's hoping.
also, some time ago now,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
datlowen asked me five questions:
1) What's the one thing you most want to change about yourself? Can you do it?
That's two questions, cheater.
Hmm, the one thing I most want to change. I'm going to go with self-reliance -- I'd like to bump it up a couple of notches. I have a decent measure of self-confidence, I think, but I let the risk-aversion spook me too easily. I'm sure I can change this, but of course it feeds itself; in order to change it, I'll have to convince myself that my efforts to change it won't fail and leave me exactly where I am now only depressed that I can't get out. :-) It has to change if I'm going to apply for this Ph.D., though. So stay tuned.
2) It seems to me that you and [your brother] have always had a great relationship. Is this the case? Or are things better now that you're living apart (like with me and my sibs)?
"Always" is a little strong, but we've never had a bad relationship. My cousin was talking last Christmas about how she and her sister fought like cats when they were kids, and get along much better now that they live apart and never have to spend more than about three days together -- sort of what you're talking about with you and your brother and sister, I suppose -- and my mother said all about how lucky she felt that her kids had never fought even that much. I think the big difference with me and my brother wasn't so much our living apart as his being bigger than me, which happened when I was about fifteen. Our relationship since then has been closer than I can remember it being before, although certainly since I left the house it's been different still. But truly, I've been crazy about the boy since he was born. Crazy.
3) [Ex-boyfriend from college]. Ex ex ex. So? Would you do it again?
If the question were "would you do him again", it'd be a lot easier to answer. :-P (Probably not.) As it is ... hmm. If "again" is defined as "then, but knowing what you know now", then I might. The thing is, as gently fucked-up as that relationship was, it was good for me at the time. I don't even begin to deny that I loved him because he loved me, but I did love him. I wasn't just playing around. It should almost certainly have ended sooner -- before that time you and K sat me down in the food court at the mall and told me I was treating him wrong, you think? :-/ -- but (a) that's not to say it should never have begun and (b) you try getting rid of him. It wasn't easy when I did finally call it off. Still, for all its issues ("No, J., really, it's not a good idea if you stick to my side like glue for the duration of every rehearsal -- it makes people uncomfortable, this isn't a social event, and while we're on the subject, you needn't stick to my side like glue for the entire duration of things that are social events, either"), I shudder to think what shape my self-image would be in now if I hadn't had that relationship then. (See question 1.)
If "again" is defined as "now", though -- if he knocked on the door and said "I miss you and I want you back" -- I wouldn't. Danger of falling into old patterns, much? I so don't need that. Plus -- well, no, never mind. You can fill in the rest of what I was about to say for yourself, I'm sure.
4) So have you made the thesis/no-thesis decision yet? What was the deciding factor? If you are doing it, what on? Or do you have any ideas?
Such a cheater. Four questions in one.
I seem to have made the decision against writing the thesis. (When I registered for this fall's classes, I checked "yes" in the box where it asked if I planned to receive a degree at the end of this semester.) The deciding factor was in part the lack of a compelling topic, and in part the non-necessity of the thing. It wasn't going to get me in to a Ph.D. program, and therefore (in the absence of a Voice In My Head urging me to write about topic x) there's limited odds I'd actually get it done.
5) Why is it that you like vicing? What team of Potomac curlers would you most like to curl with, and which position would you play?
I like vicing because I enjoy both calling line and sweeping, but I don't wish to subject myself to the pressure of making a whole end's worth of decisions. (See question 1, again, probably.) I have enough fun curling that I don't want to add stress to the experience by taking on that kind of responsibility. I'm even happier at lead than I am at skip, and you know about me and lead rocks -- but that's something I can do better with more concentration, rather than with more thinking. If that makes sense.
Dream Team of Potomac curlers -- a toughie. I like our Funspiel team, and I like our Kayser team, and I anticipate liking our Women's Challenge team withdarthrami at skip and flt at second and L.A. at lead. I'm happiest playing vice on a team where the skip is happiest skipping and the second is happiest at second and the lead is happiest at lead. And where everybody's cool and gets along together and nobody's (too) moody and pretentious. We've got a huge membership; there must be several teams that could fit that description. :-)
So you all know the rules for the interview, right? Leave a comment that you'd like five questions; I'll think up five questions; you'll answer them in your own journal and restate the rules.
classes begin tomorrow. i had an e-mail from a student today addressed to "Ms. Fox." it gave me a little frisson. i don't meet the first class i'm teaching until monday, but tomorrow i have two of my own classes and the lecture on which my discussion section depends. full day. so now, off with me to bed.
we both arrived in toronto on thursday. here's the rest of my report, recorded nightly.
Thurs
Flew to T.O. via Cincinnati -- utter clusterfuck -- met K, cab to hotel, ordered Chinese & much catching up. Also TV. Slept well, but fitfully; woke up twice. T.O. "Airport" Best Western: props for beds being really comfy, but minus several points for not having a shuttle to/from Pearson.
Fri
V. good continental breakfast, cab back to airport to pick up car, drove to Stratford, arrived way too early. Buzzed around a bit, checked in to guest house, discomfited landlady by being willing to share double bed, fortunately there's a pullout couch in the room. Glad that makes her happy.
Quiet in the Land [story of an Amish boy who leaves the community to join the army in WWI] -- excellent. Like Fiddler on the Roof, only no Jews. Lights went down for Act 2, music came up, said to K, "Hey, there was no harmony in the Act 1 music -- getting More Complex," and then a character mentioned this in an argument later. Go me! Cast uniformly ace -- leads utterly fantastic. (S. Russell & whoever played the deacon; M. Therriault continues to Do No Wrong.) K identified her mother-in-law in 2nd female lead, the girl's mother. Good line: "Those are things to want on the outside. A church is on the inside." Better line: "You don't get back lost sheep by yelling at the ones who stayed put." A play to look into keeping on the shelf.
The Birds [by Aristophanes] -- a total acid trip. Concept, cohesive; plot, insane. Apparently the rest of Aristophanes' plays are even crazier. Whatever. Costumes looked good. Singing & dancing v. good. Lost a lot of people during intermission -- not sure what they were expecting, but that wasn't it. B. Hopkins v. entertaining as E_____ (greek name) -- apparently Liverpool accent = comedy. Poss. equivalent of Jersey (Joisey) or Am. South, but then what would be equivalent of Geordie/Newcastle? Anyway, B.H. absent from curtain call -- appeared in Act 1, but only first couple minutes of Act 2, so presumably went home.
Tomorrow: we were able to get tickets to Antony & Cleopatra, huzzah, huzzah, and good ones, too -- and then No Exit in the evening. Even comfy shoes are nice to get rid of after hours and hours and hours. Also, hate nylons. Hate them. Eye makeup and contact lenses not so bad, but cooler air causing sinus issues. Must stop constructing sentences B. Jones style now.
Sat
V. nice continental breakfast w/ v. pleasant fellow guests. Requisite shopping in a.m. -- ran into C's mother in one store, which was surreal. Blood sugar sinking -- lunch at "Principals' Pantry", nice place by Festival Theatre.
Antony & Cleopatra -- fabulous. D. D'Aquila continues to Do No Wrong. K very impressed by B. Hopkins, who gave excellent performance w/ almost no lines. W. Best did v. nice job w/ speech about perfume on riverboat, etc.
Dinner @ Pazzo's, then bought ridiculous # of postcards.
No Exit -- FUCKING AWESOME. This was the show I was here to see, and it didn't disappoint. S. Ouimette DNW. C. Jullien v. good -- yay! C. Reid superb. Superb. Practically stole the show. (Impossible to completely steal shows from S. Ouimette, otherwise would likely have done so.)
Went to Down The Street after, as No Exit only one act & therefore out by 9:30. "Seated" in corner of bar on other side of passage, as usual. No complaints, as best spot for people-watching. Lady approached bar at one point w/ cane, & we offered her a spare stool that was behind us -- she said she was just paying up, and we heard voice and realized was C. Reid! Apologized for bothering her & told her how we'd loved her show; she said we'd been a good audience, which makes her job fun. We went back to our conversation, she finished paying her check, & thanked us again as she was leaving. V. charming.
Also saw S. Ouimette on his way out; tapped on window to get his attention. He turned back, which I wouldn't have done (unless there was possibility it was friend saying "don't forget your wallet"), and we gave thumbs-up and applause. He smiled and gave us thumbs-up as well. Fun! Spotted W. Best and others in bar as well, including (I think) M. Giroux (who isn't in anything we're seeing this year), B. Hopkins (didn't stop to praise on our way out as was in conversation w/ friend and we didn't want to be obnoxious), and extra-cute freed-slave boy from A&C. Yay for being the right sort of fangirls.
Tomorrow: Pericles.
Sun
Pericles -- excellent. First act sort of trippy, but second act v. good. J. Goad in aged-grieving-Pericles makeup & hair looked alarmingly like L. Neeson in Episode 1.
Landlady charged extra for pullout, which vaguely sucked after she was the one insisting we use it, but not her fault Festival didn't tell us the option was there.
Back to T.O., found hotel w/ no trouble, found grocery store w/ some effort, bought soda, ordered pizza, watched TV, talked about boys being dumb.
Mon
Up too early, to airport, left K at door, returned car, came inside & got checked in sooner than K. -- who missed flight b/c Northwest agents dumb and/or busy. Through customs, bought stamps, trip really done except getting home. May get bumped -- here's hoping.
also, some time ago now,
datlowen asked me five questions:1) What's the one thing you most want to change about yourself? Can you do it?
That's two questions, cheater.
Hmm, the one thing I most want to change. I'm going to go with self-reliance -- I'd like to bump it up a couple of notches. I have a decent measure of self-confidence, I think, but I let the risk-aversion spook me too easily. I'm sure I can change this, but of course it feeds itself; in order to change it, I'll have to convince myself that my efforts to change it won't fail and leave me exactly where I am now only depressed that I can't get out. :-) It has to change if I'm going to apply for this Ph.D., though. So stay tuned.
2) It seems to me that you and [your brother] have always had a great relationship. Is this the case? Or are things better now that you're living apart (like with me and my sibs)?
"Always" is a little strong, but we've never had a bad relationship. My cousin was talking last Christmas about how she and her sister fought like cats when they were kids, and get along much better now that they live apart and never have to spend more than about three days together -- sort of what you're talking about with you and your brother and sister, I suppose -- and my mother said all about how lucky she felt that her kids had never fought even that much. I think the big difference with me and my brother wasn't so much our living apart as his being bigger than me, which happened when I was about fifteen. Our relationship since then has been closer than I can remember it being before, although certainly since I left the house it's been different still. But truly, I've been crazy about the boy since he was born. Crazy.
3) [Ex-boyfriend from college]. Ex ex ex. So? Would you do it again?
If the question were "would you do him again", it'd be a lot easier to answer. :-P (Probably not.) As it is ... hmm. If "again" is defined as "then, but knowing what you know now", then I might. The thing is, as gently fucked-up as that relationship was, it was good for me at the time. I don't even begin to deny that I loved him because he loved me, but I did love him. I wasn't just playing around. It should almost certainly have ended sooner -- before that time you and K sat me down in the food court at the mall and told me I was treating him wrong, you think? :-/ -- but (a) that's not to say it should never have begun and (b) you try getting rid of him. It wasn't easy when I did finally call it off. Still, for all its issues ("No, J., really, it's not a good idea if you stick to my side like glue for the duration of every rehearsal -- it makes people uncomfortable, this isn't a social event, and while we're on the subject, you needn't stick to my side like glue for the entire duration of things that are social events, either"), I shudder to think what shape my self-image would be in now if I hadn't had that relationship then. (See question 1.)
If "again" is defined as "now", though -- if he knocked on the door and said "I miss you and I want you back" -- I wouldn't. Danger of falling into old patterns, much? I so don't need that. Plus -- well, no, never mind. You can fill in the rest of what I was about to say for yourself, I'm sure.
4) So have you made the thesis/no-thesis decision yet? What was the deciding factor? If you are doing it, what on? Or do you have any ideas?
Such a cheater. Four questions in one.
I seem to have made the decision against writing the thesis. (When I registered for this fall's classes, I checked "yes" in the box where it asked if I planned to receive a degree at the end of this semester.) The deciding factor was in part the lack of a compelling topic, and in part the non-necessity of the thing. It wasn't going to get me in to a Ph.D. program, and therefore (in the absence of a Voice In My Head urging me to write about topic x) there's limited odds I'd actually get it done.
5) Why is it that you like vicing? What team of Potomac curlers would you most like to curl with, and which position would you play?
I like vicing because I enjoy both calling line and sweeping, but I don't wish to subject myself to the pressure of making a whole end's worth of decisions. (See question 1, again, probably.) I have enough fun curling that I don't want to add stress to the experience by taking on that kind of responsibility. I'm even happier at lead than I am at skip, and you know about me and lead rocks -- but that's something I can do better with more concentration, rather than with more thinking. If that makes sense.
Dream Team of Potomac curlers -- a toughie. I like our Funspiel team, and I like our Kayser team, and I anticipate liking our Women's Challenge team with
darthrami at skip and flt at second and L.A. at lead. I'm happiest playing vice on a team where the skip is happiest skipping and the second is happiest at second and the lead is happiest at lead. And where everybody's cool and gets along together and nobody's (too) moody and pretentious. We've got a huge membership; there must be several teams that could fit that description. :-)So you all know the rules for the interview, right? Leave a comment that you'd like five questions; I'll think up five questions; you'll answer them in your own journal and restate the rules.
classes begin tomorrow. i had an e-mail from a student today addressed to "Ms. Fox." it gave me a little frisson. i don't meet the first class i'm teaching until monday, but tomorrow i have two of my own classes and the lecture on which my discussion section depends. full day. so now, off with me to bed.